Chapter Six

Conyod, age 24

Conyod grinned as Sletran held a piece of roasted coha in front of his lips. He pretended to complain, "Do I look like a Matara to you?"

The Nobek chuckled as Conyod allowed himself to be fed from his fingers despite the protest. "I doubt I'll ever have a female love to feed. You'll have to do."

Am I your love then?The question danced on Conyod's lips, but he was afraid of scaring his companion off. He'd had several near-instances of such questions since Sletran had arrived. Sooner or later, he'd trip up and say something that meant facing whether or not they were building an actual relationship. Maybe he should lock his overnight guest in the apartment in case the wrong words spilled out.

They'd been dating each other for six months. Nothing had been said to establish them as a couple, but they acted as if they were. The time had come to ask Sletran if he saw them as more than friends indulging in casual sex…but Conyod was terrified of losing what he had at last accomplished.

"How was your visit with your parents?" Sletran asked.

Conyod groaned. He'd returned the day before after spending a couple nights at home.

"Fun, huh?" The Nobek tempted him with another bite of coha.

Conyod accepted it, chewed, and swallowed. "Actually, it wasn't awful. I'm so used to fending off my mother's and Vel's concerns, rolling my eyes is automatic. I had an okay stay."

"Excellent." Sletran grinned. "Someday, you'll complain how they never give you any attention."

"Ha!" Conyod snuggled close to lean against his lover's shoulder. "If only. Tuher and Sema keep them on a short leash, thank goodness. I went to town on my own the second day."

"Uh-huh. Run into any old friends? And by old friends, I mean available Nobek acquaintances." Sletran gave him a narrow look.

Conyod's heart gave a leap. Such statements kept those unthinkable questions on the verge of being asked. "Oh, I saw them all. There were too many to choose from, so I ignored their attempts to catch my attention. I tell you, sometimes it's a chore to be so popular."

"Is that a fact? Maybe I should come along next time you head to the plains. Let everyone know they'd better back off."

Conyod forgot to breathe for a moment. He determinedly counseled himself, don't read what isn't there into his playfulness. He's already met my parents, so it isn't as if he's offering more than what we have.

"Yeah, you should. It's time you prove to me your assertion you can ride a kestarsh." If we're to be a committed pair. Are we, Sletran?

"How is Dresk? Enjoying his stud duties since winning the mountain and trail championship for the fourth year running?"

Conyod was both relieved and disappointed at the change in conversation. "He's incorrigible. A kestarsh transport shuttle lands on the grounds, and he prances up to the corral's containment border, tossing his mane and strutting for whatever mare is led off it. The first day of my visit, he and I were coming in from a ride just as a transport showed up. He damned near shook me off, he was dancing so enthusiastically for his latest date. Thank the ancestors she played hard to get, or I might have been part of the intimate encounter. I managed to convince him to go to the breeding containment and let me off before things got too hot and heavy."

Sletran bellowed laughter at his description. "Dresk has it made. He's brought the best food, others clean up his shit, and the females line up for him to make love to."

"He has a life most of us only dream of," Conyod agreed. "I'd trade places, but I draw the line at breeding with mares. I don't find kestarsh sexually attractive."

"I'm relieved to hear it." Sletran pushed their empty plates aside on the small table in Conyod's kitchen nook. "Since I don't want the Nobeks lined up for your sexual favors, allow me to impress you like Dresk impresses the mares."

"Oh, will you prance for me? Toss your long hair and rumble deep in your throat as a mating call?"

"How about I suck your cocks down my throat instead?" Sletran scooped him off the floor cushion and sat him on the edge of the table, where his plate had been a moment before.

"I won't say no to that. Ever. You dancing for me would still be a plus—"

As he'd spoken, Sletran had yanked his pants open. Conyod's eager cocks sprang free. He'd broken off teasing Sletran abruptly, because Sletran had done as he'd offered; he sucked Conyod's secondary deep, swallowing him.

Conyod unleashed a groan as lightning excitement shot through him. It hit hard enough for him to fall back. He caught himself on his elbows on the tabletop, barely noting the shock of the impact reverberating up his arms. His senses were engulfed by the wet warmth of Sletran's mouth.

The Nobek's head slowly bobbed over his crotch. Conyod's eyes rolled as his rough tongue applied gorgeous friction to his flesh, sucking the whole while.

A distant part of his mind reminded him he should be reciprocating in some fashion. A hallmark of the Imdiko breed was their overriding urge to take care of others, often to their own detriment. A tinge of guilt told him he wasn't giving to his lover, that he was taking selfishly.

He reached for Sletran, too muddled by waves of arousal to figure out what to do beyond stroke his lover's shaggy black hair. Not missing a beat as he enthusiastically fellated Conyod…the pace was picking up and rendering Conyod completely lost in lust…the Nobek grabbed his wrists and pinned them to the table surface.

His elbows no longer supporting him, Conyod's head lolled on the polished wood. His world was pure pleasure, and he lost all comprehension of duty to the man dealing it.

More so when Sletran abandoned his smaller cock for his primary. Renewed excitement blasted through Conyod, and his legs kicked the air. He was a young Kalquorian, closer to adolescence than adulthood when it came to his sexual urges. Sletran used it against him by driving him headlong into fierce arousal.

If he'd been able to think straight, Conyod would have been embarrassed at how quickly the Nobek coaxed him to come. There was no denying the frenzied roil of passion the hot mouth pulling on him sent streaming from his clamoring sexes. A brutal surge of exquisite rapture, and ribbons of semen erupted from his straining primary. Sletran swallowed. The movement of his throat strengthened the surges. Conyod's cries echoed through the room.

Sletran sucked until the younger man lay strengthless on the table. Growling in excitement, the Nobek finally released his half-erect cock and yanked on the Imdiko's trousers, tugging them off so he lay naked from the waist down.

Conyod was aware of what was happening when Sletran rolled him onto his stomach, but he lacked the strength or will to resist. He wouldn't have anyway. He felt his lover take position between his limp legs, then the eager probe of slick, hungry flesh.

Growling a moan, Sletran eased his primary in Conyod's ass. The Imdiko whimpered at the burning stretch, but he offered no attempt to pull away. He loved being taken by the Nobek. The ache of yielding to his thick cock was no match for the delight of their joining. He couldn't deny the excitement of the calloused hand between his shoulder blades pinning him, leaving him helpless against the warrior's demands.

Again, youth made Conyod arousal's pawn. The steady friction of Sletran's shaft pumping his ass and ruthlessly rubbing his cumspot woke erotic bliss. He grew hard again, as if mere minutes hadn't passed since climax.

Sletran's hand closed around his primary, and he chuckled. "No different from Nobeks your age who are full of hormones. Sometime, I'm going to see how often I can make you come in a single night. Maybe I'll do it tonight."

As if the idea excited him, Sletran's thrusts grew in power, his groin clapping Conyod's ass in a quickening tattoo. He pumped the Imdiko's cock in rhythm. Ecstasy began to gather in truth once again. Conyod gasped, his palms slapping the tabletop as need multiplied. He writhed desperately beneath Sletran, his buttocks lifting to meet the cock driving between them. Climax was indeed building, insisting he surrender to its demands.

Sletran beat him to it, but only by a matter of seconds. They shouted together, their bodies bucking and straining as rapture claimed them. They thrashed so desperately, they tumbled from the table to the floor and scattered the seating cushions.

At last, the violent hunger quieted. They lay gasping, Sletran spooning Conyod, his cock twitching in the Imdiko.

Sletran's gentle fingertips stroked Conyod's lower abdomen. When he spoke, his voice was soft, almost as if he were afraid of being heard. "Do you love me?"

"Yes." The word escaped before Conyod could gather his senses to consider the potential ramifications of his admission.

"Not just because I was there when things were at their worst? I keep thinking if a different man had been there instead of me…anyone would have done. You would have considered anyone who intervened as a hero."

Conyod licked his lips. He could feel everything depended on how he responded. It wasn't because he had any intention of hiding the truth from Sletran…but he was afraid if he failed to say the words correctly, his dream, suddenly in reach, could slip through his fingers.

He turned to face the man his world revolved around, even when they were apart. He forced himself to look his lover in the eye. "No one else would have done. It wasn't just that day. It was what happened later."

"What do you mean?"

"You were there for me, and you didn't have to be. You stuck by me when the police said you could go. You showed up for the court hearing. You visited and taught me self-defense. Even when I tracked you down in the city after I turned eighteen and confessed I loved you and behaved like an utter ass—"

"You weren't an ass, Conyod. You were just young and hadn't given yourself a chance to meet other Nobeks. I thought you were sweet, but I felt you'd built me into someone I wasn't."

"Whatever. Even then, though you put distance between us and wouldn't answer my coms, you at least responded to my texts. You were kind about it." Conyod stroked his jaw. "Since we've reconnected in person, I've learned who the Nobek is behind the glorious image I've had of you. You're still my hero…but you're also a good man. An incredible man. I'm in love with him instead of the icon I kept on a pedestal for so long."

Sletran searched his face for several breathless seconds. When he smiled, Conyod's heart dared to beat again.

"I never imagined you'd become the man you are. I'm glad you grew up to become this person I want to be near every second of the day and night. You have no idea how glad I am, Conyod."

It was as close as the Nobek warrior code would allow Sletran to say the Imdiko's love was returned. The kiss Sletran gave him stated it better. The love they made for the rest of the night cemented the relationship.

At last, Conyod had won the man of his dreams.